Tennessee Has Offered the Head Coaching Job to Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Which Means ...

B) Mike Gundy wants another raise from T. Boone Pickens. (Gundy got an 8-year, $30 million new contract in March*.)

C) Mike Gundy told Tennessee no, then the Vols moved on to Strong, then Gundy had a change of heart and went back to Tennessee.

Bruce Feldman’s report this morning on the offer to Gundy doesn’t make it clear who got an offer first (or if Strong was even offered). But I’m going to guess that ESPN doesn’t stick the Charlie Strong report on the front page last night unless it had something firm. And the reporter, Chris Low, is an experienced one who has covered Tennessee for over 10 years and lives in Knoxville.

What a mess AD Dave Hart has created.

* Best part of the Gundy new deal in March?

Gundy will earn $3.275 million in the upcoming season. That’s a jump of more than $1 million over the $2.1 million Gundy was due last year under his old contract. His salary will go back down to $2.85 million in 2013 before increasing over the rest of the term of the extension, maxing out at $3.55 million in 2019.

Smart dude. Gundy had a fantastic year in 2011, and had the Cowboys in contention for the BCS title game if not for a late-season debacle in Ames. So he got a hefty pay raise this year, and hey, why take a brief $400k paycut at Oklahoma State when he could simply get more from Tennessee?